Welcome to Coast Redwood Parks & 100s of Redwood Photos.

Coast Redwood Hiking, Adventures and
Redwoods Photography. Look Up for the Menu!

Updated October, 2016

by Mario D. Vaden

Welcome! If you are heading for the coast redwoods, this is a good place to begin. The menu is loaded, located at the top of of the page page above the header image, or the side, depending on your device or browser width.

Choose from over 200 pages categorized by subject. More redwood articles are added in the REDWOOD BLOG.

The most essential topics are in the menu under must-see, lodging, park visitor centers and hiking. Just start under the essential tab.

Images top & right: header above is Stout Grove in Jedediah Smith coast redwood park. To the right, a woman leans on a large coast redwood in Redwood National Park. A few artistic photos for size and scale are at giant coast redwoods

Content here began years ago with a single page about one Grove of Titan Coast Redwoods and grew to over 200 individual pages plus the album and redwood blog.

In 2014, a large page was added about new largest coast redwood discoveries after more redwood titans were found. Coast redwood now surpasses all known giant sequoias for trunk circumference and exceeds 1321 point General Sherman by no less than 40 points.

This site is one of the best representations of what to anticipate in the Coast Redwoods. The redwood forest with the tallest redwoods, tallest trunk, largest coast redwoods and widest redwood trunk. I am not a "redwood guide" on paper, but have enhanced redwood adventures for a few people. See redwood guide tours.

Many largest redwoods are undisclosed but the parks will share a few like Boyscout redwood or others like the Big coast redwood and Giant coast redwood (14 and 15) listed under redwood giants in the menu. Other largest 15 coast redwoods each have a page. The coast redwood park visitor centers can direct you to tall 300' - 350' redwoods in several parks. Start in essentials and work out from there. It should be simple to navigate. I have not spotted Bigfoot, but did encounter a Redwood Fairy. There are pages from the menu about unusual coast redwoods as well as various largest coast redwoods. I also post on Facebook.

Coast Redwoods Defined

Coast Redwood is the only known living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae. Common names are coast redwood, coastal redwood and California redwood. It's botanical name is Sequoia sempervirens, and it may be accurate to call one a "sequoia", or "sequoias" for several. But "giant sequoia is generally a name reserved for Sequoiadendron giganteum.

Coast Redwoods are evergreen and monoecious with male and female reproductive parts on the same tree. Maximum age can exceed 2300 years. It is the tallest species, exceeding 380 feet and 29 feet diameter at breast height (dbh). The species exceeds all known giant sequoia for girth at dbh, diameter chest-high.

Image: Battery Point lighthouse, near Crescent City and Jedediah Smith redwood park

The foliage leaves are needles about 1 inch long with pointed tips and white stripes beneath. But foliage higher up in older coast redwoods may be much smaller and somewhat awl-shaped. If nominated to American Forests, coast redwood would exceed General Sherman's (Sequoiadendron) 1321 points by a substantial margin. Coast Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, has a natural range along the northern California and extreme southwestern Oregon coast.

There are man-made coast redwood groves or forests, including one in New Zealand.

Mobile vs. Computer

This main redwood page was the only one optimized for mobile devices. With other pages intended for computer viewing . Personally, I liked the old archaic layout better, and recently reverted most of this page back to the old code style. It also enables easier page updates with the software, so this should be a step forward. The menu and first few paragraphs should continue to resize on small device screens.

Image: Avenue of the Giants passest through Humboldt Redwoods State Park

The bigger your screen, the better to view these coast redwood photos. Its amazing how much life gets sucked out of redwood photos viewing on phones. My comments for redwood trails are in the menu under hiking, listed under 5 park names, plus an extra link to redwoodhikes.com. Compare my trail reviews with that one.

There are over 300 Coast Redwood photos in the blog, album, other pages, and the Redwood Mini Pics page.

Redwood Parks Differ in Character

The 15 largest coast redwoods (2013) are included because most visitors will never see them, as well as Hyperion the tallest redwood (2006), discovered at Redwood National Park.

The tallest of the tall and the largest of the large are dispersed throughout Humboldt Redwoods State Park and Redwood National and State Parks, with the exception of Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park. Otherwise, all of the parks have an abundance of extremely tall coast redwoods and lots of very big ones too.

Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park has some big redwoods but is often more noted for Damnation Creek trail leading to the ocean, foggy redwoods and Rhododendron blossoms in spring.

Most superlatives are not destinations. Those coast redwoods and others are in menu option Redwood Giants, along with other Awesome & Big coast redwoods. A few may be landmarks.

When it comes to the absolute largest coast redwoods, you don't need to hunt those down for an amazing visit. There are so many big redwoods in the park, that even the greatest among them can blend in.

Image: jumping into the Smith River upstream from Jedediah Smith redwoods. View from "Slant Bridge" after turning off Hy. 199.

The north parks of Humboldt and Del Norte are where coast redwoods grow over 380 ft. tall and over 29 ft. wide. The area stretches through Crescent City, Klamath, Orick, Eureka and Meyers Flat.

That area has five large coast redwood parks with old growth forest and trails. Each coast redwood park is different. Jedediah Smith seems more Jurassic, Redwood National may feel like a Wilderness, and Humboldt Redwoods looks more spacious in the understory. Prairie Creek has so much lush vegetation it can almost feel tropical.

The redwoods are over 100 ft. taller than Muir Woods.
Four parks managed as Redwood National and State Parks account for 133,000 acres. Those are Redwood National Park, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park.

Image: Richardson Grove visitor center, south of Humboldt Redwoods State Park, north of Garberville.

pproximately 30 minutes south of Eureka, is Humboldt Redwoods State Park with over 50,000 acres and Rockefeller Forest. That park containing the Avenue of the Giants is managed separately and has its own visitor center.

90% of people should find a good lead here about coast redwood travel. Photos include Jedediah Smith redwoods, Avenue of the Giants, Prairie Creek Redwoods, Del Norte Coast Redwoods and Redwood National Park. The emphasis remains on Coast Redwoods. But a few images from local communities are added.

There are 8 coast redwoods over 370 feet tall (2013). Four are in Redwood National Park and four are in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Visitor centers will not provide maps to those, but can direct you to redwoods well over 300 feet tall around Avenue of the Giants, Bull Creek Flats, Howland Hill Rd. and Redwood National Park.

Most largest Coast Redwoods are not landmark features like giant sequoias with signs, rails and fences. But the park visitor centers can show you maps to a lot of very large and interesting coast redwoods.

Again, each redwood park has its own character, and they are all worth visiting on your vacation.

I made an effort to show this in the photo album and pages. There is horseback riding, kayaaking, fishing and marathons like one in Avenue of the Giants. Add festivals, the Ferndale kenetic sculpture contest and several breweries.

For car buffs, attend the Sea Cruise auto show yearly, October, in Crescent City. Down in Klamath, there's smoked Salmon, jet boat tours up the river. and the overlook of the Klamath River, where whales can be spotted.

If you are looking for variety, the redwood coast will offer it. Links for researcher Dr. Sillett Canopy at HSU and explorer Michael Taylor used to be provided, but Sillett removed his canopy photos and Taylor removed his landmarktrees site altogether. The removals were shortly after someone (anonymous) gave away a few undisclosed locations of research related redwoods.

Note: I'm not a redwood guide ... but have met various people from other countries, for hiking, photography and exploring in the coast redwoods.

Mini Pics

Most small clckable Redwood Mini Photos were moved to their own page. This is separate from the coast redwood albums, although a few may be similar images.

Image: Lupine blooming near Bald Hills Rd. above Redwood National Park. This photo is from April.

Coast Redwood Hiking & Maps

Use the top menu for my reviews of popular coast redwood trails, official park maps and visitor center contact numbers. They are in the hiking and maps option.

My reviews are listed under:

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park

Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

Redwood National Park

Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Another excellent coast redwood trail website is provided from the menu, called redwoodhikes.com. Our reviews are not identical. Read both and compare. redwoodhikes.com may whack a rating for traffic sound more than I do. My emphasis is different. I think both of our redwood trail reviews combined will offer you more.

Image: Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park near the visitor center. This is the approach to 3 hiking trails. James Irvine trail, Westridge trail and Prairie Creek trail.

I recall seeing redwoodwoodhikes.com maps at the parks visitor center racks. Take a look, those redwood trail maps are worth the purchase. To avoid re-inventing the wheel, I limit being repetitive, adding content when I feel the trail should be described differently or with added emphasis.

redwoodhikes.com is worth 5 stars for redwood hiking destinations, photos, trail ratings, detailed maps and mre. See the 2nd menu next to the hiking heading. I refer to that site for my own adventures.

Muir Woods

Compared to the north coast redwood parks, Muir Woods's redwoods are smaller, but it has plenty of character. The small park 12 miles north of San Fran has 554 acres with 240 acres of old growth. For comparison, that's about 1% the size of Humboldt Redwoods State Park south of Eureka. Or about 10% the size of Forest Park on Portland's west side to give you some idea.

Image: the One Log Truck along Avenue of the Giants. Often parked outside a very nice gift shop

Muir Woods' tallest redwood is under 270 ft. tall, whereas Humboldt and Del Norte have tallest over 350 ft. to 370 ft. If redwoodhikes.com implemented a "serenity scale" to rank Muir Woods for hiking, it could end up as just 1/2 star some days. Let me quote the park's July site alert to clarify:

"Take the Muir Woods Shuttle. Weekends are the busiest time for Muir Woods. Parking limited. Muir Woods is experiencing high numbers of visitors. Traffic and unsafe parking behaviors are adding stress to visitors and residents. Expect delays on Hwy 1 as people drive to and from Muir Woods and local beaches."

Again, Muir Woods may give you that shot in the arm, unless you find the stress. Maybe Muir Woods could be compared to pharmaceutical commercials with disclaimer warnings, and Redwood National and State Parks compared to natural food stores.

Exploring the Coast Redwoods

After many of my own redwood trips, I suggest for travelers from afar to consider lodging reservations rather than camping to get more out of adventure and cover more ground. It buys time, not just a room. If your time is limited, you can skip camping setup, drying tents and waiting for showers.

Coast redwood camping is a lot of fun, but if the forest will take care of you, get a motel or bed & breakfast room. It also provides a place to keep items that may leave you biting your nails about leaving in a car or tent.

Image: Crescent City harbor sunset

Coast redwoods provide hikes and drives ... even swimming. Expect park staff & rangers to be helpful. The rangers at the redwood visitor centers are indispensable.

My time in the redwoods is hiking, camping, photography and exploring. The redwoods are an outdoor museum which led to interesting conversations, new friends around the world, and a few world record discoveries. It's a recreation overlapping my work and education. It literally changed my life, leading me into professional photography also.

Image: Grieg-French-Bell grove at Avenue of the Giants.

Keep in mind that north California has the best places to see redwoods. Oregon has just a little for old growth redwoods and trails. Places to the south like Big Basin and Montgomery Woods are very lovely too, but the coast redwoods of Del Norte and Humboldt are in a league of their own.

The biggest list of giant and tallest coast redwoods discovered over the years came from two men who explored for decades: Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor. They explored alone and with others. Their discoveries provided much of what Dr. Steve Sillett at HSU, researched some years.

Image: Bull Creek Flats in Humbolt coast redwoods

At least in the United States, Michael Taylor's coast redwood exploring almost reminds me of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Michael had the benefit of returning home and certainly didn't face certain dangers that the Corp of Discovery met. But Michael spend years of his life exploring most of the coast redwood parks in California, treading through the wilderness beyond the trails. Read more about: Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor.

Taylor is an interesting fellow, a mechanical engineer who is expert with species ID and forests, understanding algebra and trigonometry. He has an appreciation for gadgets and drones. In June 2011, Michael Taylor, Chris Atkins and myself broadened exploration into Southern Oregon and the Sierra Nevada, adding pines and Douglas fir to the coast redwood adventures.

2008 to 2016 provided opportunities to explore with Michael Taylor, Chris Atkins, Dr. Robert Van Pelt and Dr. Steve Sillett, in Redwood National and State Parks. The days were vigorous and memorable. Part time, during 2 years, there was opportunity to work, locating and measuring tall redwoods related to LIDAR.

After 2014, a few of us invested more of our energy again into the coast redwoods and found some remarkable new champion redwoods. See Discovery under Redwood Giants in the menu to find out more.

Restaurants & Lodging

Here are some restaurant & motels. for dining and lodging in Humboldt and Del Norte counties of Northern California. Most are are clean, affordable and comfortable options.

One motel is in Grants Pass.

Curly Redwood Lodge CRESCENT CITY on Highway 101. Near food & shopping. 5 minutes from Redwood park.Huge rooms. This is the one I stay at most often. Several of my photo prints are in the main lobby.

The covered parking of the Curly Redwood Lodge is a treat when there is fog or rain. There is a restaurant directly across the street, and a couple more just a few minutes walk to the north.

Image: large coast redwood in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

Arcata Stay ARCATA. ,,, Upscale Arcata California Lodging accommodations. The only Lodging Network in Arcata with an Excellence Rating by Tripadvisor. The 8 Stays are walking distance to Humboldt State University and downtown.

Photography Workshop 2016
Photo Permit Info

Down the road, I hope to offer workshops in the Coast Redwood parks. My strength leans toward composition and picking the right location for time of day or weather.

Certainly I can't be the sharpest tool in the drawer, but I looked at workshop pages of some other photographers, and realized I like many of my own photos better.

I did my first workshop, September, 2016, near Crescent City, in a county redwood park that didn't require the state park photographer permit. It went smoothly and I hope to make more available.

If photographers contact me with a request for help getting around in the redwoods for photography, I will entertain the idea, maybe even deal with the Redwood National and State Parks permit.

If you need comfort of photographng with someone who knows the lay of the land, drop a note and maybe we can arrange something.

Image: Howland Hill Rd. in Jedediah Smith park

To Professional Photographers ...

Technically, the parks require permits for some photography. If you call the visitor center at Crescent City or the permit coordinator they can clarify this.

If your equipment is compact like camera, tripod and backpack, no permit should be required for landscape photography and redwoods.

If you plan to use a model for commercial use, that may need a permit, but could be a "grey area" too. I say this, becaue if a typical visitor poses two family members to add to a Flickr album or Instagram, that's as much portfolio-building as one photographer with one person posing by the same coast redwood. Stands or reflectors may be commercial photography from their point of view. Photography workshops need a permit and insurance (maybe why many photographers go under the radar)

Most landscape scenic photography does not require a permit, even if you sell prints.

A group of friends or photographers gettting together with cameras and tripods should not need a permit. I do not think rules can prohibit donations outside parks after recreational photos.

My own work is a combination of photography and artistic. Ansel Adams did likewise with film camera and darkroom. My work is digital camera and computer. I want to emphasize that my images are not what the camera captured, but the potential from what was captured.

Exploring, Guides, Tours & Fun

M. D. Vaden & Redwoods Time in the Coast Redwoods with Mario Vaden, aka M. D. Vaden... Exploring and Photography ... Exploring as time permits. Available to those who have a huge appreciation for coast redwoods. Friendly adventure.

The Redwood Coast Nature Guide Jenny Hanson, naturalist and nature guide for the Redwood Coast. Guided trips for individuals, families, and groups, including people with physical limitations.

Local naturalist services to bus tours, conventions and large groups. Based in Eureka. Services from Humboldt Redwoods State Park in the south to Jedediah Smith State Park and Crescent City in the north

Custom Ceramic Murals CERAMIC MURALS & TOUR. See link for more info. Look for Public Murals. This custom artwork is available for public viewing throughout parts of Crescent City.

FYI - the Guide site www.gilbertredwoodexcursions.com is inactive. But Redwood Ed as he's called, is still out and about,. His site www.redwood-ed.com is operational

Redwood Giants to Redwood Book

The genesis of this coast redwood content began years ago as one single page about the Grove of Titans . Like yearly growth rings, it expanded.

Eventually, I found the desire to work on a coast redwood photo album book to express my redwood adventures, weaving adventures, education and images. In 2016, I designed a small photo album book called Coast Redwood Adventures.

It's petite, and more of a photo album book with a few words to tell about the photos. These are hard cover and I hope to sign most of them. The Curly Redwood Lodge may have one near the lobby. Very few will be printed. This is testing the waters for something bigger someday.

Prints & Canvas by M. D. Vaden

For anyone interested, my prints or canvas hang for sale at three art galleries. Two connected to the Redwood Coast Art Association are in Crescent City, and share the same site link. The other one is in the Rogue Valley.

Recently, I ordered a 40 inch x 60 inch canvas print of a new coast redwood discovery, one of the widest coast trunk views ever photographed. It may be for sale in one of those galleries or a local business wall. The following image is one I have in mind to print as 14 in. x 14 in. canvas to hang in the Crescent Harbor Art Gallery or Second Street Art Gallery at 2nd & L St.

A stand of coast redwoods exhibiting blue foliage, viewed between the bokeh of red huckleberry on the left and evergreen huckleberry on the right.